Drfc, the economic climate, population etc

[irishcontingent]

Excuse me while i waffle out loud so to speak. Doncater borough has a population of 286K or thereabouts, of those there are say 10K who regularly watch DRFC ( about 3.5% ). Most of those i hazard a guess will in some way have been affected by the current economic climate ( even here i had to suffer a 10% pay cut, for the good of the company ). So, its fair to say there is little lee way in most budgets.

Now, in order for DRFC to \"Stand Still\" never mind improve their standing in the football pyramid , John Ryan and his Board have implemented season ticket price hikes ( depending on who does the mathmatics in % terms this hike can be as little as 7% or as high as 50%), seemingly most are prepared to pay , but the timescale of the \"Stepped\" rise has touched a raw nerve with most too. It does seem unfair to drop this in at such short notice. However the decision is made and we as supporters have two choices \"Like it or lump it\".

Now to the crux of my waffle.

JR and Co. require more bums on seats, the population of DMB is as stated around 286K, so lets suppose 50% are of such an age that concession season tickets apply. ( under 16 or over 65 ) so roughly speaking 143K potential full price  season tickets are out there. Lets say half of those have no interest in football, or no interest in DRFC, thats around 70K who have an interest. So DRFC supporters have taken up 5K of those full price season tickets , leaving 65K. Now.........what is the unemployed rate in Doncaster, 5,10 %, lets go for the higher 10% 6.5K if half of those were able to afford a ticket to watch DRFC, the KMS would be approaching capacity ( for home supporters ). So i think DRFC have missed a trick here, if a person is unemployed , or on long term sickness benefit, give them the chance to watch DRFC at a rate commensurate with income, whether match to match or 1/4 season ticket. Even if the same rule of thumb applied to these unemployed / long term sick ( 3.5% were interested in DRFC ) there would still be a few hundred extra bums each game, putting a few quid in the coffers.

There waffle over.

[BillyStubbsTears]

On a related note, it's interesting how stable the home fans attendances have been thus season. Looking at the gates for each match, and taking a reasonable guess forcthe number if away fans, it's clear that home fan numbers have rarely, if at all, been outside the range 8,500-10,000.

Two things spring to mind.

1) Once again thus season, our form has oscillates wildly. But the number of home dans turning up seems immune to this. We don't lose loads when we play poorly and (crucially) we don't put thousands on the gate when we are playing well and winning.

2) Allied to this, I'd guess that our average home gate is down by a thousand or so on last year, despite the wonderful football we played at the back end of last season.

Conclusion? JR can highlight the quality if our football as much ad he wants, but it doesn't seem to have an effect on our crowds. So why have crowds gone down this year? As Bill Clinton would gave said: It's the Economy, stupid. All of which means we are playing a very dangerous game with the cack-handed management of this year's ST price increases. A more sophisticated business operation would be studying its customer demographics, surveying them to estimate the economic flexibilty of its customer base.  

As it is, since our policy has once again been to berate our customers, I expect our core home support to dwindle by another 1000 or so and for JR and co to be left with an even bugger deficit to fund.

[Thinwhiteduke]

irishcontingent wrote:

So i think DRFC have missed a trick here, if a person is unemployed , or on long term sickness benefit, give them the chance to watch DRFC at a rate commensurate with income, whether match to match or 1/4 season ticket. Even if the same rule of thumb applied to these unemployed / long term sick ( 3.5% were interested in DRFC ) there would still be a few hundred extra bums each game, putting a few quid in the coffers.

Sorry. For a minute there it sounded like your saying if you claim benefits and dont work, or your signed off sick - genuine or not, you can watch Rovers for less than someone who can be bothered to work and is able bodied?

For one, that would be an adminstrative nightmare and open to severe abuse, and two its grossly unfair on individuals who works damn hard for a living.

Seems another one of those \"give more to those who contribute the least to society\" ideas.

[irishcontingent]

You are correct, that is exactly what i am saying, and why not, if someone is unemployed and recieving 68 quid a week ( or whatever it is ), and they are \"fans\", why not, some will be unemployed for reasons beyond their control, and if someone is long term sick , is that their fault. By your reckoning Under 16, Students, over 65 should also pay full whack. And why do DRFC give away tickets to schools, surely they too should all pay.